The London Series: Part 3

Today’s London Series post is a lot of fun. On this day, we partook in a lot of the ‘typical tourist’ things one might expect to do in London. I find that doing this in your own neighborhood or city can be a lot of fun as well (like one of my days in Detroit, here). I hope you enjoy the third installment!

“We did so many things today!

We started at the Tower of London this morning after riding the tube during rush hour. That was interesting. Being from Michigan, I haven’t ridden very many subways, so being on one during rush hour was a little intense. I didn’t realize they could fit so many people into a metal compartment. Claustrophobic is an understatement. I had the foresight to to grab a fennel & mint tea from Pret (yum!), which got me through it.

We got to see the Crown Jewels, which were overwhelming, though I couldn’t take pictures (that seems to be a theme). Everything about the Tower of London was pretty crazy, especially the animals. Apparently, people from all over the world sent wild animals to the Tower as gifts for the king. They didn’t know how to care for them at the Tower very well, and for a short period, they had a zoo inside the Tower. Many injuries quickly followed, from zoo patrons to animals.

Of course, I also took this opportunity to get my typical tourist photo with a Grenadier Guard.”

“After that, we grabbed lunch at Starbucks and headed for Tower Bridge. The tour takes you up to the very top of the bridge, where there is a glass walkway all the way across. If you know me personally, you probably know that I have a terrible fear of bridges, but I faced my fears! It was crazy, and I don’t think I’ll ever forget that experience.

We then got to explore an old battleship on the Thames, called The Belfast. Honestly, we weren’t all very excited about this excursion, but we had discounted tickets and decided to go, since we were there. I’m so glad we did! It turned out to be really, really cool!

The London Bridge Experience was next. This was something a little different. Located down under the London Bridge Walk, the London Bridge Experience is a historical re-enactment/tour meets haunted house. The historical part was really interesting, and the haunted house was surprisingly terrifying. If you’re a fan of haunted houses, I’d definitely recommend this one. It was scary, but so much fun! Plus, the exit was right next to the Mudlark Pub, and drinks were a must after that.

We ended our day by going back to The Globe Theatre. We got a tour of the Shakespeare museum attached to the theatre. Though we all knew most of the information in the museum, we did manage to find a few interesting gems, like a replica of the old theatre and some beautifully intricate costumes. We then got some pizza and waited in line to get in to see Romeo & Juliet.

It was the most…interesting…performance of Romeo & Juliet I’ve seen to date. It was like R&J meets mime meets Insane Clown Posse. Apparently there was some drama going down between the Globe and that theatre season’s artistic director, and she decided to go off the deep end for her final season. She topped it all off by having boxes of roses line the front of the stage at intermission, completely blocking our view as well as most of the other groundlings view (the people standing on the ground in front of the stage). It was another memorable London experience.

We took the tube back to our flat (how posh does that sound?), grabbed some food and are heading to bed now. Tomorrow we go to Bath!”